The Blind Pets: Keeping it dirty with class

Drummers are like phoenixes — they provide rhythm and an attitude of cool for rock bands, but usually for a limited amount of time.

After a while, they unceremoniously stop playing with the band for whatever reason and another drumming aficionado rises up from the ashes.

This has been the case with Austin-based rock band The Blind Pets who have gone through their share of drummers since they formed five years ago.

But lead singer Joshua Logan doesn’t mind the new blood.

The Blind Pets will perform at Tequila Rok on Saturday.

“We’re on our seventh drummer now,” Logan said in a phone interview. “Ya know, I think drummers eventually do something else. Our last drummer broke up with his girlfriend and moved to New York. I think he’s even still pretty bummed about not being in the band.”

With the success The Blind Pets have experienced in the last year with frequent touring and upcoming studio time for their fourth album, “Heavy Petting,” it’s hard to believe anyone would choose to leave the band, let alone six people.

“It takes a lot to be a drummer in a rock-and-roll band,” he said. “It’s pretty much like being someone who’s equipped to run a marathon on a nightly basis. We wear drummers out.”

Logan, who grew up moving from state-to-state with his mom and six siblings, isn’t talking about only performances but the three to five times a week that his band rehearses, which he said is much more regular than other Austin music makers.

“People quit when they decide to grow up and I haven’t chosen to grow up yet,” he laughed.

In 2011, The Blind Pets were ranked in the top 10 bands on the University of Texas’ radio station, which Logan said is a big deal with the over-saturation of live music in Austin.

But outside of the state’s capitol, the band is touring in an effort to become a recognizable name in other cities — like Beaumont.

Photo courtesy of The Blind Pets' Facebook page

Back when Beaumont’s much beloved Vortex was still open, Logan said they played some of their best shows there.

This isn’t the first time for them to play on Crockett, either. The band’s last Tequila Rok show was with Beaumont favorite Purple.

Touring is a must before they head back to the studio to record another 10-12 song vinyl, he said. The live music helps gear the band up for the creation of new material.

“I like a more natural sound,” Logan said. “There is some ‘polishing’ you do with vocals, but as far as everything else, natural is best.”

Logan said this will be the first album the band has recorded where he doesn’t feel pressured to make the live sound identical to the recording.

“This is a new album with more of a broader spectrum,” he said. “It’s more like The Beatles, not like the Stones.”

A bit of polish, but not much because The Blind Pets want to “keep it dirty, but with class.”

An over-polished sound in the studio limits what you can do on stage, he said, and it makes you sound like everyone else.

“There’s a difference between walking in and smelling like (expletive) and walking in and being the (expletive),” he said.